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Security audit

Scale Frameworks

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This is a planning skill for scaling systems and organizations, with disclosed local memory and no evidence of hidden execution, network use, or credential handling.

Before installing, be aware that this skill may keep local notes about company, architecture, bottleneck, guardrail, and escalation patterns under ~/scale/. Do not let it store secrets, credentials, payment data, or sensitive identifiers, and review or delete that directory if you do not want durable scaling memory.

Vulnerability Patterns
  • Skill Instruction HijackingAlters the agent's session goals or safety constraints when the skill loads
  • Agent Memory PoisoningWrites attacker-controlled rules into memory that affect later sessions
  • Remote Payload Retrieval and ExecutionFetches external code whose behavior can change after review
  • Embedded Malicious CodeShips malicious scripts inside the skill and executes them locally
  • Unauthorized Access and Privilege EscalationObtains permissions beyond the task's legitimate needs
Vulnerability Patterns
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
  • Supply ChainUnpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code
Findings (5)

Hidden Instructions

High
Category
Prompt Injection
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Hidden instructions were detected in comments or invisible text. These could contain malicious directives. Manual review is recommended.

Content

Scanner excerpt · memory-template.md (reported line 15)May include surrounding context.

md
integration: pending

## Scale Context
<!-- What is being scaled and why now -->
<!-- Stage, constraints, and target horizon -->

## Bottleneck Map

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The never_ask behavior explicitly directs the skill to 'stop prompting and operate silently' after a user rejects setup prompts. That creates a risk of continued background influence or action without fresh, explicit user confirmation, which undermines transparency and informed consent even if the skill is only maintaining planning state.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

The file says to confirm activation in the first exchanges, but then lists conflicting conditions: a broad trigger ('whenever the user discusses growth, bottlenecks, architecture limits, or team capacity') alongside narrower 'only when' constraints. This ambiguity can cause unintended invocation or inconsistent behavior because the scope is not clearly defined.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

The skill instructs storing activation preferences in ~/scale/memory.md without clearly notifying the user that data will be retained. Silent persistence creates a privacy and consent risk because users may disclose operational details believing the exchange is ephemeral, while the skill saves reusable context locally for future sessions.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

The section on persisting reusable scaling intelligence establishes ongoing retention of user-derived operational context without explicit disclosure or consent. Even though it says not to store secrets, the listed categories can still include sensitive business information such as bottlenecks, interventions, guardrails, and escalation signals, which could expose internal strategy or operational weaknesses if accessed later or stored insecurely.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Static analysis

No suspicious patterns detected.